76ERS: Nick Young likely not back next year; Sixers beat Pacers in finale

Indiana Pacers guard Orlando Johnson, left, and Philadelphia 76ers guard Damien Wilkins go up for a rebound in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS — At his locker, Nick Young had a pair of noise-canceling headphones straddling his head. Sadly for Young’s case, those haven’t been able to drown out all the criticism he’s endured lately.

Young came into the season expected to be a spot-up 3-point shooter for the 76ers, feeding off the inside looks and defensive attention garnered by Andrew Bynum. So much for that plan.

He went from a sideshow dubbed Swaggy P to a legitimate option off the bench to a part-time starter — and then all the way back to the bench. Literally, he occupied the last seat on the Sixers’ bench Wednesday night in their meaningless game at Indiana.

It’s not looking like Young, with a sizeable salary-cap hit of $6 million this season, will return to the Sixers next season. He’d like to, he said. But he’d have to accept a contract below what he earned this year for the Sixers, who are expected to have $12 million with which to play.

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And it’s unlikely Young will accept that stipulation.

“Haven’t really talked about,” he said. “Guess I’ll just see what happens, hear what they say (Thursday) at exit interviews and weigh my options. Philly’s a good place, but I’ll see what happens in the summertime.”

It took a 21-point lead for Young to finally emerge, late in the third quarter. Young, who appeared in only seven of the Sixers’ final 25 games, had started 11 in a row prior to that but worked his way out of the rotation with abysmal shooting.

One guy the Sixers would like to have back in the mix next season is Dorell Wright. The guard-forward got considerable playing time off the bench down the stretch, and reached double figures in scoring in seven of his last eight appearances.

Wright, who averaged 9.1 points per game this season, said it took awhile to find his role with the Sixers because “new guys don’t want to step on nobody’s toes.” Now that he’s spent a year in Philly, he said he’d consider coming back.

“I’m the type of dude who thought I’d be in Miami my whole career, so it’s always good to be somewhere you’re comfortable with and familiar with and happy with,” said Wright, who made $4 million in the final year of his deal.

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For a while — really, for three quarters — it looked as though the Sixers would send out Doug Collins on a high note.

They eventually pulled it off, but required heroics in the process. The Sixers nearly coughed up a 26-point lead before recovering for a 103-95 victory over the Pacers.

The Pacers trimmed their deficit to seven points with five minutes to go, using a 9-0 run that cut the Sixers’ lead to 90-83. The Sixers scored six unanswered thereafter to recreate some distance. Wright canned a 3-pointer, then Wilkins picked Indiana’s Ben Hansbrough at midcourt and drew contact on the fastbreak for a 3-point play.

That basically gave the Sixers the win, and sent Collins out a winner.

Speaking of salary-cap hits, the Sixers likely will have to endure one with Kwame Brown.

The veteran center has a player option for $3 million that he’s almost certainly going to pick up. Brown finished the season with 30 consecutive DNPs. All told, he did not play in 60 of the Sixers’ 82 games, meaning he was paid $804,000 for games in which he actually played.

It looked as though Brown might enter the game in the third quarter, when he headed toward the scorer’s table. But then Brown returned to the bench a moment later with a piece of candy.

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Evan Turner, who’s been sporting a beard all season, said he’s in no rush to shave it now that the offseason has begun.

“Beards have more fun,” he said.

Uhh, isn’t the expression about blondes?

“Nope,” Turner said. “It’s about the beard.”

Visit Christopher A. Vito’s Sixers blog at delcotimes.com for more coverage. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisVito.